Ice skates have been used for recreational and transportation purposes for hundreds of years. Originally, some sort of low friction sliding device akin to a metal blade was attached using straps to a conventional boot. Eventually, in this century, boots specifically intended for use only in ice skating evolved, typically with the blade firmly affixed to the boot. The unitary blade and boot had the advantage of rigidity allowing more speed and control than previously possible.
For many years, it has been realized that there may be an advantage to providing a replaceable sharpened blade for ice skates. With heavy use, typically a conventional skate blade will wear out before the boot portion. Accordingly, there is an advantage to extending the life of the skate by replacing the blade rather than replacing the entire skate.
For advanced skaters particularly, the degree of curvature of the blade (referred to as "rocker" in the industry) is important. Different skaters will choose different rocker curvatures depending upon their personal preferences. Unfortunately, with conventional skate construction, manual sharpening of the skates in which the blade and rocker are synonymous, tends to vary the rocker curvature slightly. Over the course of the lifetime of a conventional skate, this curvature can vary dramatically.
In addition, sharpening must normally be done by someone other than the skater using special grinding equipment. This is often inconvenient to the skater and involves a certain expense.
The fact that skates must be gripped in some kind of vice to allow sharpening dictates that there be open space between the blade and the boot sufficient for the vice grips to pass through. This open space may be hazardous since it may allow a puck to be temporarily trapped in the skate, and it may provide an opening sufficient to catch a hockey stick blade causing the skater to lose balance or fall.
In addition, certain of the prior art attempts to provide replaceable skate blades have involved replacement of a relatively heavy and thus expensive, metal portion of the skate with substantial removal and fastening difficulties. Some such replaceable blades were intended to be sharpened a number of times before replacement. See, for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,749 to Olivieri. In other prior art attempts, the replaceable blade, although lightweight, has not been effectively mounted on the rocker to provide the security required particularly by advanced skaters. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,108,128 to Kinney. Still other replacement blades have been of a complex construction not easily adapted to inexpensive commercial production. See, for example, German Patent No. 724488 to Dornseif and U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,050 to Isely. Moreover, replaceable blades have tended to be prone to breakage owing to the structure of the blade and the tension under which the blade is placed in order to stretch it along the base of a skate blade. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,674 to Cann, et al.
The present invention solves these prior art problems. The skate of the present invention comprises an inexpensive, light, easily changed blade which can be replaced with little or no wear on the remainder of the skate. A result of the construction of the new skate is that the rocker curvature will not vary as a result of manual sharpening. In addition, different rocker curvatures can be chosen according to the user's preference and the identical replaceable blade can be used with all such rocker curvatures. The rockers themselves may be replaced according to the preference of the skater. The problem of excess breakage of replaceable blades has been solved using novel means to connect the blade to the skate. A torque limiting device provides for easy replacement and adjustment of blades by consumers without damage to the skate or the replaceable blade.
A benefit of the construction of the invention is that replaceable toe and heel caps can be used which provide protection from otherwise sharp or protruding surfaces. In addition, these caps may be coded by colour to allow identification of the ice skates on an individual or team basis.
Moreover, since there is no need for a gap between the blade portion and the boot of the skate using the invention, the construction is safer than conventional skates.